In the typical anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction via suspensory fixation, a graft tendon is pulled into a passage formed in the femur with sutures and the sutures are anchored in place within the bone using a suspensory button anchoring device. In this process, the anchoring device is also passed through the passage and, once positioned in the desired position, deployed to lock the device in place within the bone.
While the above-described anchoring devices are viable, they have several drawbacks. First, the devices are relatively expensive, which increases the overall cost of the procedure. Second, the devices can be difficult to pass through the femur and deploy in the desired location. Third, the devices can loosen over time, which results in loosening of the graft. Fourth, the devices are permanent in that they cannot be repositioned after they have been deployed.
From the above discussion, it can be appreciated that it would be desirable to have an anchoring device that avoids one or more of the above-described drawbacks.